Stranger From Space (1951-52)
The adventures of Ian Spencer, a human boy befriended by a Martian boy called Bilaphodorous who has crash-landed on Earth.
| Production company/ies | Broadcast station(s) | Broadcast date(s) |
|---|---|---|
| BBC | BBC Television Service | Season 1: October 20, 1951 - March 22, 1952 Season 2: October 11 - December 20, 1952 |
Production credits
| Producer(s) | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Other notable credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Westmore | Unknown | Hazel Adair Ronald Marriott |
Episodes
| Season 1 (1951-52) | Season 2 (1952) |
|---|---|
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Acting credits
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Notes
Stranger From Space was not the first television science fiction serial - that honour goes to the American series Captain Video And His Video Rangers in 1949 - but it was the first British serial in the genre to be written specifically for television and for children. Its creators were screenwriter Hazel Adair (co-creator of ATV's Crossroads) and her actor/producer/director second-husband Ronald Marriott, who would go on to make an appearance in the 1955 children's television series Return To The Lost Planet.
The series was part of the For The Children: Whirligig strand and all 10-minute episodes were broadcast live on Saturdays, over alternate weeks. The fortnightly schedule allowed the creators to incorporate viewers' letters and suggestions into the episodes.
Radio Times did not publish a feature on the series, nor were there synopses of each episode, so it is not clear how the story progressed. There was, however, a novelisation by Adair & Marriott published in 1953.
